Ecobank reports N38bn after tax profit in H1 2017; as deposits from customers hit N4.23trillion

ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has reported impressive N37.735 billion profit after tax for the six months ended 30 June, 2017.
The Ecobank reports released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos shows that, its profit after tax grew by N6.653 billion or 21.40 percent over N31.082 billion recorded during the same period of 2016.
The percentage of profit to gross earning shows that the group retained better profit in 2016 which was 11.37 percent of its gross earnings as against 9.75 percent retained during the current half year.
Ecobank Group gross earnings rose from N273.446 billion recorded in half year 2016 to N386.859 billion in current half year, this translates to 41.48 percent (N113.413 billion) increase.
The lender’s improve on loans and advances granted to its customers during the first six months of 2017, as it granted N2.899 trillion to customers as loans in half year 2017 as against N2.824 trillion granted to its customers at the end of 2016 financial year, represented N75 billion or 2.66 percent.
In the same vein, the bank’s deposits from customers rose by N119 billion, from N4.116 trillion in December 2016 to N4.235 trillion at the end of half year 2017.
Commenting on the performance, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank, Ade Ayeyemi, said, “our audited half year results demonstrated the benefits of our diversified business model. Despite a fragile macroeconomic backdrop in most of our markets, we still generated a 15.6 percent return on tangible equity and further improved our cost-to- income ratio to 60.6 percent, driven by our continued cost reduction initiatives across the network ”We are also happy with the progress we are making on the digital front, particularly on our strategy to enable millions of unbanked Africans have access to financial solutions using our revolutionary Ecobank App and other digital channels. We have also recently announced the appointment of Eric Odhiambo as Chief Risk Officer, to help drive our risk management objectives and improve our risk culture Our revenues increased 5 percent in constant currency, and highlighted encouraging growth in our Trade and FICC, businesses, thanks to encouraging client activity and improving foreign-exchange markets. Profit before tax, however, fell 20 percent in constant currency, due to continued provision building and elevated cost-of-risks as we had earlier communicated. Overall, we are making good progress on our strategy and continue to serve our customers diligently. We look forward to the second half of the year with excitement.”